IBOToolbox 2.0 has been released – Ouch!

IBOToolbox 2.0 has been released, June 1, 2013, and what was once a great social media marketing site is now difficult, boring and not very utile.

That may sound harsh, but I’m not going to hold any punches here, a very good IBOToolbox 1.0 has been turned into ‘blah’.

Just look at the above the fold, there is nothing there to really look at, to grab one’s attention and make them want to go on.  I, as a big fan of IBOToolbox 1.0, had to invest the time to look around and got even more bored.

Here are the challenges I see on just the above the fold on the Main page, or Dashboard, as the folks at IBO like to call it ….

Let’s go down and around with the arrows:

1. Big ad (728×90) that covers about 15% of the above the fold, and who pays attention to ads?  SolveMedia did a study and you are more likely to win the lottery than click on a banner ad, 31.25 times more likely.
2. Instructions:  Basically another ad and this time promoting buying ads and using IBO.  Hey folks, we are smart enough to figure it out ourselves, a simple Help link should do it.
3. Wall Entry:  Here’s another 15% of the above the fold that’s blank?  Sure, I get to see my pretty picture, but then blank… Why?
4. Wall Entry 2:  The latest post that has been made to the wall by an IBO member, again, covering about 15% of the viewing area.  Sure I get to see the pic of the member, some stars and icons, but so what…  More wasted space.
5. Site Navigation: Over 10% of the above the fold and 3% of it is blank space.  Why so big?  Why take up so much space, it previously was built into the top bar and took up less space, navigation was easy and less space wasted.
6. FMOTD:  Here we find the Featured Member of the Day (FMOTD), great, we see their stars and award icons, social media links, but what the heck does the person do?
7. IBOToolbox OnTrack:  What does this have to do with the above the fold?  Are we not smart enough to look at our own profile page to see where we stand?

That’s just the above the fold, gets worse when you scroll down.

Sorry folks, but there is nothing to bring me back, nothing that helps me to be a better online marketer, to get the word out about my business.  I want to see what’s going on ‘above the fold’, not have to go searching for it.  And, no matter how long one uses the site, it still won’t make it more utile.

I will be back when IBOToolbox 3.0 comes out, or they go back to 1.0.

In the meantime it’s on to Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest to share and market the information from my website(s).

Want to check it out any way, IBOToolbox 2.0… click here.

Then I would love to hear your insights and comments below…

Best!